Vol. 535 No. 1
171 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the position regarding the provision of broadband infrastructure for County Mayo and the provision of fibre-optic cable between Westport and Castlebar as indicated in the reply to parliamentary Question No. 71 on 30 November 2000. [11769/01]
The provision of telecommunications services is a matter in the first instance for the companies who now operate in a fully liberalised market. My responsibility is for public policy in the sector within which these companies operate. The widest possible availability of competitive services has traditionally been an important objective of Irish telecommunications policy. I have, in recent years, put in place a number of initiatives, which seek to address gaps in communications infrastructure in Ireland.
Under the National Development Plan 1994-1999, IR£21 million was made available to support the roll-out of broadband to the regions. Under this scheme, Eircom was supported in the provision of optical fibre cable along a 32 km link on a route connecting Galway and Castlebar, linking Westport, Aille, Ballinrobe, Kilconly, Kilmaine, Tuam and Claregalway. Indications from Eircom are that this project is completed. Completion of this project, among others, is being independently evaluated by consultants engaged by my Department.
Other projects funded under the NDP 1994-99 involve the deployment of broadband infrastructure in Mayo. Esat's national fibre optic network was extended to Mayo covering the towns of Ballina and Claremorris. CMI, now Chorus, were assisted in the design and construction of a hybrid fibre coaxial infrastructure in Castlebar.
Funding has been significantly increased under the National Development Plan, 2000-2006, to IR£147 million. The allocation of this funding is the responsibility of my Department. Funding under this communications and e-commerce measure of the NDP will be utilised to leverage and accelerate investment in competitive advanced information and communications infrastructure and services which will enhance the potential for the development of electronic commerce facilities and enable the electronic provision of public services, including education services, virtual libraries, welfare and health services.
172 Mr. Fleming asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will raise, at the European Council of Ministers, the question of insisting that manufacturers and suppliers of telecommunications antennae and mobile phones throughout Europe invest considerable funds in research and development of transmission of their signals to ensure that there is an improvement in the quality of and a reduction in the number of telecommunications antennae and masts. [11779/01]
The cellular mobile industry undertakes research and development in mobile telephony technologies. This research and development has not been limited to reducing the size of the handsets but has covered various aspect of mobile technology including the antennae for the base stations. Antennae used at mobile telephony base stations can vary in size from large antennae to very small antennae. The latter could typically be smaller than the size of an alarm box on a domestic house.
The industry is conscious of the need to reduce the impact of their masts and antennae on the environment and have adopted suitable approaches where it has been possible to do so.
However, the demand for mobile phones has increased considerably over the past few years and this has influenced and increased the number of telecommunications antennae and masts that need to be installed. While the size of antennae used and the number of base stations deployed is a matter of detailed network implementation and is dictated by consumer demand and the available technologies, I will ask my officials to support any initiatives leading to greater industrial effort with respect to the issues raised by the Deputy.
